Cruisin' Main Street America
by yellowhorde
Summary: Leon takes Chris and D out for a road trip, but he soon finds that things don't always go as planned.


Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors and I make no money from this or any other fanfic I write.

Pairing: Leon + D

Category: General

Rating: R

Warning: Language

Title: Cruisin' Main Street America

Notes: This was written for the LiveJournal communities 30cuddles. Theme #15 – _'the setting sun'_

CRUSIN' MAIN STREET AMERICA

"Detective," D murmured tightly, "I cannot believe that you would be irresponsible enough to leave on a road trip without making sure you had a spare tire."

"And how in Hell was I supposed to know that we'd get a flat out here in the middle of nowhere?" Leon fumed, "I'm not a fucking psychic, you know."

"Or much of a Boy Scout, either," D huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "And please be so kind as to watch your language. I don't want Chris to pick up such vulgarities." He shifted within the confines of his seatbelt, turning his face away from the other man to stare out the window.

With more effort than was pretty, Leon held his tongue and dug into the pocket of his jacket. His palms, face, and body were slick with sweat after spending over two hours cursing and yelling as he struggled to wrestle the flat off only to find that he had no spare in the trunk. He withdrew his cell phone but the tiny device almost slipped from his dirty hands. Fortunately, after a tense moment of fumbling, he managed to get a good grip on it. He rubbed first one hand then the other along his denim-clad thighs to dry them before punching in Jill's number.

"Damn it, I can't dial out." Leon snarled. He punched in the number again, held the phone to his ear. Still nothing. His brows pulled down into a formidable frown.

"Either we're not within service distance, or my battery must be dead," he mumbled and examined the phone. With a growl of frustration, he flipped his cell phone shut. "What a cheap piece of shit. I _know_ I charged it before we left Los Angeles."

Angrily, he snatched up the charger and plugged it into the phone's jack with more force than necessary. He unfastened his seat belt and leaned his head back against his seat, his eyes flickering over to Count D, sitting so prim and proper in the passenger seat, gazing intently out the window to the bare landscape that stretched out as far as the eyes could see.

"You might as well relax, Chris," he sighed, "We won't be going anywhere for a while."

'_Does this mean that we won't make it to Amboy today?'_ Chris asked from the backseat of the car where he had been napping up until the tire had blown.

"Probably," He grunted. "Sorry 'bout that, kid."

"Perhaps we could walk there?" The little boy's tone was hopeful.

Leon squinted out at the rapidly setting sun and extended out his arm. He then folded down all his fingers but his thumb and pinky in a manner reminiscent of a portrait artist working on a painting. When he was a boy he had been told that this method would help determine how many hours there were before darkness fell. And although he had to admit that it wasn't a very scientific method, it was surprisingly accurate.

"That wouldn't be such a good idea, kiddo," Leon responded after a few moments. "We'd have to walk a long way and we have less than two hours of light left. And I don't know about you, but I don't find the idea of wandering around in the desert at night very appealing."

"Besides," he added, "If you encounter problems on the road, it's always best to stay with your car."

'_Yeah, I guess you're right.'_

Both of the men and the little boy fell silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts. Leon fished a pack of cigarettes from his jacket, thrown carelessly beside him, shook one out, and put the rest back. He glanced back at his brother then slipped the cigarette into his shirtfront pocket with a sigh. D disapproved of him smoking around the kid, and he had to admit that he didn't care much for the idea himself.

He knew Chris would probably be upset about not getting to Amboy tonight, but they could just as easily visit the volcano crater tomorrow. It wasn't going anywhere and he didn't have to be back to work for two days. They still had plenty of time, really, all the time in the world.

"Don't worry, Chris," Leon mumbled. "When my cell phone's charged, I'll call Jill and explain things to her. Then she can get in touch with a garage or something and arrange for them to tow us to a nearby town. Then I'll get a new tire and we'll be on our way."

He smiled confidently at his brother. "You'll still get to see the Amboy Crater, I promise. Just a little later than planned, that's all."

'Okay.'

D remained silent throughout all this and Leon thought he might still be angry. _'It would be just like him to hold a grudge,' _he thought, _'that prissy son of a bitch.'_

"Where are we, Detective?" D asked suddenly, his voice soft and holding a touch of awe.

Leon shrugged with deceptive carelessness, wiggling his shoulders against the seat to find a more comfortable position. "I don't know… about fifty or sixty miles southeast of Ludlow, I guess. Why?"

D continued to stare out the window taking in the barren beauty of the countryside, the miles and miles of sand, dirt, and rock punctuated by dried up shrubs, cacti, and Joshua trees. Along the horizon, the purple majesty of an ancient mountain range stretched out as far as he could see. Though not as large as the Rocky Mountains, they were still impressive in their own right.

There was an eternal, unchanged quality to this desert land that appealed to D on some deeper level. Though he strained all of his senses, he could detect no presence of human habitation along this desolate stretch of Route 66, just Mother Nature and her creatures. No indication that of the great metropolis that sprawled less than two hundred miles to the west.

"It's so quiet and peaceful here," D murmured, leaning back until his body was pressed against Leon, who shifted a bit uneasily but didn't pull away.

Leon cut a quick glance toward the backseat, but Chris was too busy reading his favorite book with Q-Chan perched on his shoulder to notice anything going on in the front. 'Not that there was anything '_going on'_,' he mentally added.

"It's so beautiful out here, Detective."

"Yeah… beautiful…" Leon whispered hoarsely, but it wasn't the landscape he was looking at, but the look of rapture on D's face. And here he thought the only way he could see that expression was by offering him expensive chocolates.

Awkwardly, Leon lifted his arm and slowly draped it over D's shoulders and was surprised at how narrow they were beneath the thick silk brocade of his chiao-fu. D sighed softly and rested his head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder. For a long while they watched the sun sink behind the mountains in a magnificent display of reds, oranges, and purples

"I'm sorry I was so upset earlier, Detective," D eventually murmured, his voice drowsy. "I know you did your best to arrange this little field trip for your brother. And I… _we…_ really appreciate it."

"Uh… sure… No problem."

Shortly after the sun had sunk behind the horizon leaving nothing in its wake but a strange, reddish-orange glow, Leon tried his phone and was delighted to find that it was finally working. He shifted around carefully trying not to disturb the Count, who had fallen asleep, and punched in Jill number from memory and when she answered, explained the whole situation.

"I can't believe you went on a road trip with a little boy without making sure you had a spare tire," Jill's voice was every inch as incredulous and upset as D's had been earlier.

"Yeah, I know, Jill, I know," Leon groused. From the back seat he heard Chris mumble in his sleep. Then in a much lower voice, "I already got one ear chewed off by D earlier and I don't want to lose the other one, thank you so very much."

"There's no need to get pissy, Leon," Jill's irritated tone came crackling over the air waves with perfect clarity.

"You're right and I'm sorry," Leon muttered a bit tightly, then continued after a few deep breaths. "It's been a long day and we've been sitting in this damned car for hours. So if you could just use those fantastic computer skills of yours to locate the nearest garage or towing service, contact them and tell them our current whereabouts, I would appreciate it."

"For you, anything," Jill agreed. He could actually hear her smile. "But you're going to owe me… big time."

"Thanks, Jill, you're a life saver."

"I know it," she paused, then added in a gently teasing manner. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Detective Orcot."

Then she disconnected leaving Leon alone in the front seat of the dark car with the sleeping D curled up against him.

"Easier said then done," Leon mumbled to himself, almost lightheaded from the soft, clean scent of D's hair. He glanced down at the other man's sleeping face and swallowed hard against the temptation to kiss him. Fortunately for him, his little brother was asleep in the backseat to keep him out of trouble.

THE END


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